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Wix and WordPress Tensions Rise

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Wix and WordPress Tensions Rise

Wix and WordPress have been engaging in a public spat that keeps getting nastier with each response. A new response from Wix seems to lower the temperature on the dispute.

The latest round of open letters between WordPress and Wix was instigated by a series of polarizing video ads created by Wix.

The ads were generally poorly received in the web development and search marketing community. But others found the ads to be humorous.

The biggest complaint seemed to be that the ads were inappropriately negative against WordPress, a popular and beloved open source content management system. Some wished that Wix had taken a higher road with their ads.

Matt Mullenweg Responds

Matt Mullenweg is the developer behind WordPress and the founder of Automattic, a company that creates a variety of popular web and WordPress related offerings.

Matt also founded the WordPress Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports and protects the free WordPress content management system.

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The response by Matt was understandably passionate.

In an essay entitled, Wix and Their Dirty Tricks, he set the table by painting Wix as thieves.

He begins by reminding readers that Wix were the ones who were accused of “stealing WordPress code and lying about it.”

He follows up by accusing Wix of trying to gain relevance by attacking the open source WordPress community and expresses empathy for the actors and workers involved who were “forced” to make the Wix attack ads.

That’s just the first two paragraphs.

Matt then lays into Wix’s business model, remarking on how it’s based on trapping clients by making it difficult to escape to a different system, comparing Wix to a trap for vermin.

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He wrote:

“They are so insecure that they are also the only website creator I’m aware of that doesn’t allow you to export your content, so they’re like a roach motel where you can check in but never check out. “

Next he paints a picture of Wix as an abusive partner that imprisons their clients in a basement and expresses surprise that consumer protection agencies haven’t yet gone after Wix for their business practices.

The essay ends by accusing Wix of being creepy and misleading in how they are choosing to represent themselves.

Wix Responds

Given how gleefully negative and outrageous the Wix attack ads were, the Wix response from the CEO, Avishai Abrahami, was refreshingly sober and focused on facts.

I asked a friend with 25 years in the search marketing business to read the Wix response and he remarked that he found it “nice and sane.”

The open letter from Wix to WordPress begins by noting the prevalence of anger and “half-truths” in the essay by Matt and asks,

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“Why are you so angry?”

The Wix CEO sets his table by painting Matt Mullenweg as angry and not telling the truth, while presenting Wix as fair and sticking to facts.

The issues with WordPress that he cites are:

  • High maintenance
  • Problematic plugins
  • Memory issues
  • Security

Hypocrisy and Friendly Competition

Avishai accuses Matt Mullenweg of being hypocritical for criticizing Wix for negativity by claiming it was Matt that begun the bitter exchanges by being first to go on a negative attack.

He portrayed WordPress as the initial aggressor and Wix as simply responding to the negativity from WordPress.

To prove his point that WordPress engages in negativity he links to two WordPress.com web pages:

https://WordPress.com/compare/wix/

https://WordPress.com/go/tips/WordPress-vs-wix-everything-you-need-to-know/

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Next he portrayed Wix as being open to criticism and eager to learn from it.

He wrote:

“I believe in friendly competition. Competitors push each other by competing. When you guys wrote about issues with Wix, like SEO and performance, we didn’t complain, we owned it and worked hard to fix it. Now we have great SEO, and performance is almost where it should be – so thank you WordPress for pushing us to be better.”

Then he asks WordPress why can’t they do the same to own their issues and work to improve them.

That question could be said to be unfair because the issues with security and plugins are outside of the direct control of WordPress itself.

Problematic plugins are developed by third parties and are not under the direct control of WordPress itself. So it’s hard for WordPress to “own” something it doesn’t actually own.

Did Wix Steal WordPress’ Code?

Wix addresses the accusation that they stole WordPress code by relating that they did not steal “General Public License” code and noted that they had addressed this accusation five years ago.

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“I’d like to remind you that the code wasn’t developed by WordPress – it was General Public License (GPL).

We didn’t steal it, and we gave it back according to GPL (JavaScript is not linked).

As a reminder, here’s my reply to you about it from 5 years ago.”

Does Wix Lock Users In?

Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami refutes the claim that Wix locks users in and linked to a WordPress.com tool for importing content from Wix to WordPress.

WordPress Hosts a Wix Site Import Tool

Aviashai linked to a WordPress tool for importing Wix websites.

https://wordpress.com/support/import/import-from-wix/

This is what the WordPress Wix site import tool says:

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Import »Import from Wix

Our Wix Importer is a quick way to move your content. All you have to do is provide your site’s web address (called a URL).

When the import is complete, you’ll have a site that’s pre-filled with your content and ready to be your new home on the web.”

Referencing WordPress’ tool for importing Wix content, Avishai asks:

“Do you remember this? So why did you write that we lock our users in the basement?”

Wix Offers Apology

The CEO later affirms his belief in “friendly competition” and the benefit of businesses challenging each other to be better.

 

He states that highlighting the “problems” with WordPress was meant in the spirit of friendly competition but he also offers an olive branch in the form of an apology.

He wrote:

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“We tried to make the ads funny, and I think you can also admit that the problems we talk about are real. However, if it offended you, I’m sorry.”

The open letter then ends by recounting that he has unsuccessfully invited Matt for coffee over the past few years.

Response to Wix Open Letter

Most of the responses fell along polarized lines.

But there were a few who seemed able to see the truth in both sides.

One person tweeted:

Later in the Twitter discussion he quoted the part of the Wix response that he felt was spot on, while following up with what he disagreed with in the Wix open letter:

Criticism of Wix

As mentioned earlier, the response appeared to be polarized and some of the responses seemed to be quibbling about details but not directly with the point being made by Wix.

For example, one person took issue at Avishai referring to the WordPress developers as “you guys” in a sentence the state of SEO friendliness of the Wix platform.

Less Finger Pointing and More Coffee

Several people felt like both sides make valid points but both need to stop pointing fingers at the other and instead focus on their own issues.

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Many people were taken aback by the negativity and arguably poor taste of the Wix advertisements. It seemed to mark an escalation of tensions between WordPress and Wix.

There’s so much negativity in the world today it doesn’t make sense to add more of it in the form of nasty videos and finger pointing. Maybe it’s time to move on?

Searchenginejournal.com

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Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

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Facebook Problem Again

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

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During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.

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NEWS

We asked ChatGPT what will be Google (GOOG) stock price for 2030

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We asked ChatGPT what will be Google (GOOG) stock price for 2030

Investors who have invested in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock have reaped significant benefits from the company’s robust financial performance over the last five years. Google’s dominance in the online advertising market has been a key driver of the company’s consistent revenue growth and impressive profit margins.

In addition, Google has expanded its operations into related fields such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. These areas show great promise as future growth drivers, making them increasingly attractive to investors. Notably, Alphabet’s stock price has been rising due to investor interest in the company’s recent initiatives in the fast-developing field of artificial intelligence (AI), adding generative AI features to Gmail and Google Docs.

However, when it comes to predicting the future pricing of a corporation like Google, there are many factors to consider. With this in mind, Finbold turned to the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to suggest a likely pricing range for GOOG stock by 2030. Although the tool was unable to give a definitive price range, it did note the following:

“Over the long term, Google has a track record of strong financial performance and has shown an ability to adapt to changing market conditions. As such, it’s reasonable to expect that Google’s stock price may continue to appreciate over time.”

GOOG stock price prediction

While attempting to estimate the price range of future transactions, it is essential to consider a variety of measures in addition to the AI chat tool, which includes deep learning algorithms and stock market experts.

Finbold collected forecasts provided by CoinPriceForecast, a finance prediction tool that utilizes machine self-learning technology, to anticipate Google stock price by the end of 2030 to compare with ChatGPT’s projection.

According to the most recent long-term estimate, which Finbold obtained on March 20, the price of Google will rise beyond $200 in 2030 and touch $247 by the end of the year, which would indicate a 141% gain from today to the end of the year.

2030 GOOG price prediction: Source: CoinPriceForecast

Google has been assigned a recommendation of ‘strong buy’ by the majority of analysts working on Wall Street for a more near-term time frame. Significantly, 36 analysts of the 48 have recommended a “strong buy,” while seven people have advocated a “buy.” The remaining five analysts had given a ‘hold’ rating.

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1679313229 737 We asked ChatGPT what will be Google GOOG stock price
Wall Street GOOG 12-month price prediction: Source: TradingView

The average price projection for Alphabet stock over the last three months has been $125.32; this objective represents a 22.31% upside from its current price. It’s interesting to note that the maximum price forecast for the next year is $160, representing a gain of 56.16% from the stock’s current price of $102.46.

While the outlook for Google stock may be positive, it’s important to keep in mind that some potential challenges and risks could impact its performance, including competition from ChatGPT itself, which could affect Google’s price.


Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.

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This Apple Watch app brings ChatGPT to your wrist — here’s why you want it

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Apple Watch Series 8

ChatGPT feels like it is everywhere at the moment; the AI-powered tool is rapidly starting to feel like internet connected home devices where you are left wondering if your flower pot really needed Bluetooth. However, after hearing about a new Apple Watch app that brings ChatGPT to your favorite wrist computer, I’m actually convinced this one is worth checking out.

The new app is called watchGPT and as I tipped off already, it gives you access to ChatGPT from your Apple Watch. Now the $10,000 question (or more accurately the $3.99 question, as that is the one-time cost of the app) is why having ChatGPT on your wrist is remotely necessary, so let’s dive into what exactly the app can do.

What can watchGPT do?

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